The invention relates generally to ground working equipment, such as agricultural equipment, and more specifically, to a wing folding arrangement for an agricultural implement.
Generally, fertilizer application implements are towed behind a tractor or other work vehicle via a hitch assembly secured to a rigid frame of the implement. These fertilizer application implements typically include one or more ground engaging tools or openers that form a path for fertilizer deposition into the soil. The openers are used to break the soil, thereby enabling injection nozzles (e.g., positioned behind the openers) to deposit fertilizer at a desired depth beneath the soil surface. In certain embodiments, the implement may include knives (e.g., positioned behind the openers), instead of the injection nozzles, to flow the liquid fertilizer into respective trenches formed by the openers and the knives. Using such implements, fertilizer may be distributed throughout a field, either before or after planting, to facilitate enhanced crop development.
A fertilizer application implement may have various folded or unfolded positions for use during operation, transportation, and/or storage. For example, the fertilizer application implement may include a working position where a tool bar of the implement is unfolded for applying fertilizer throughout the filed. As another example, the fertilizer application implement may include a transport position where the tool bar of the implement is folded for transportation and/or storage of the implement. A current trend for fertilizer application implements, and other implements, is to increase their working position span. Increasing the span of a fertilizer application implement may facilitate distribution of fertilizer over a wider swath of soil, thereby distributing the fertilizer throughout a field at a faster rate. However, as the span of the working position of the fertilizer application implement increases, a size (e.g., height, width, etc.) of the fertilizer application implement in the transport position may increase. Unfortunately, an increase in the size of the implement in the transport position may reduce the stability of the fertilizer application implement during transportation, and/or inhibit storage of the implement.